Khandaker Abdur Rashid is a Bangladesh Army officer and a fugitive assassin of the first president of Bangladesh, Sheikh Mujib.
Biography
Khandaker Abdur Rashid was born on 1946 in the district of Comilla, in British India. He served in the
Pakistan army
The Pakistan Army (, ) is the Army, land service branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The roots of its modern existence trace back to the British Indian Army that ceased to exist following the partition of India, Partition of British India, wh ...
and defected during the start of Bangladesh Liberation war. Thus, he was a freedom fighter. Despite having a similarity in family name, the only relation between Rashid and Khandaker Moshtaque Ahmed was their common birth district.
Khandaker Moshtaque Ahmed
Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad (also spelled Khandakar Mushtaq Ahmed; – 5 March 1996) was a Bangladeshi politician. He was the President of Bangladesh from 15 August to 6 November 1975, after the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. He was part ...
became the president of Bangladesh after the assassination of Sheikh Mujib. he was a major at the time of the 15 August 1975 coup and
assassination of Sheikh Mujib
The first president of Bangladesh, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and most of his family were killed during the early hours of 15 August 1975 by a group of young Bangladesh Army personnel who invaded his Dhanmondi 32 residence as part of a coup d' ...
. He was part of the team that raided the armory of the 2nd Field Artillery on 11:30 pm August 15 to use in the coup. He was maintaining contact with Moshtaque throughout the time. The conspirators held several meetings in his residence in
Dhaka cantonment
Dhaka Cantonment ( bn, ঢাকা সেনানিবাস) is a cantonment located in the northern part of Dhaka, Bangladesh. The headquarters of the Bangladesh Army, and Bangladesh Air Force, Air Force are situated within the cantonment w ...
. He promoted to Lieutenant Colonel after the assassination. He returned to Dhaka during the regime of
Hussain Mohammad Ershad
Lt. Gen. Hussain Muhammad Ershad ( bn, হুসেইন মুহাম্মদ এরশাদ; 1 February 1930 – 14 July 2019) was a Bangladeshi Army Chief politician who served as the President of Bangladesh from 1983 to 1990, a time ma ...
. He formed Bangladesh Freedom Party with Syed Faruque Rahman. He was elected to parliament in the 15 February 1996 general election, which was discredited. Faruque was his brother in law.
He was convicted and sentenced to death in absentia for the assassination of Sheikh Mujib. He lives in Pakistan as of 2000. In 2016 the government of Bangladesh passed a law that allowed for the seizure of the properties of those convicted in the killing of Sheikh Mujib. Rashid's shares in
Kushtia
Kushtia ( bn, কুষ্টিয়া) is a city in the Khulna Division of southwestern Bangladesh. Kushtia is the second largest municipality in Bangladesh and the eleventh largest city in the country. The second largest city in Khulna div ...
based
Jubilee Bank
Jubilee Banks () is one of the oldest commercial banks in Bangladesh. It is a non-scheduled bank, one of five in Bangladesh. The others are Ansar-VDP Unnayan Bank, Grameen Bank, Karmasangsthan Bank, and Palli Sanchay Bank. It is scheduled for l ...
were ordered to be seized by Bangladesh Bank. His daughter
Mehnaz Rashid
Mehnaz Begum (1958 – 19 January 2013) was a Pakistani TV, radio, and film singer. She was well known as a film playback singer in the 1970s and 1980s. She was the recipient of Nigar Awards.Freedom Party and was arrested in 2009 by Bangladesh police.